Kika (1993)

Kika is a bizarre film, often seen as one of the weakest in the oeuvre of Pedro Almodóvar, one of the most controversial from someone who loves to make controversy, and it’s going to be one of the hardest to discuss. It’s as if Almodóvar was doing an homage to himself.

It’s been said that each character of the film belongs to a different genre (including porn, as this is Pedro Almodóvar), and the film is a mashup of these characters. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy, not dramatic enough to be a drama, yet doesn’t fall into a “dramedy” label either.

The title character, played by Verónica Forqué, is a cosmetologist who finds herself involved with an American writer, Nicholas, (Peter Coyote, who is dubbed in Spanish during the entire film) and his stepson, Ramón (Alex Casanovas). Ramón is traumatized by his mother’s suicide, and his ex-psychologist Andrea Caracortada (Scarface) is now presenting a sensational news program about the worst news of the day. Andrea is also a former lover of Nicholas. She follows them around in hopes of catching some morbid item for her news show.

Juana (Rossy de Palma) is Kika’s maid. When Juana’s brother, the porn star Paul Bazzo, is released from prison for good behaviour, he pays a visit to his sister and ties her to the chair. He finds himself watching Kika sleeping, and turned on, decides to rape her in a bizarre scene that caused controversy. The scene is filled with humor, shock and sadness as the situation is so bizarre. Someone is watching the whole thing, and Andrea Caracortada has the whole thing filmed for her show. The movie then goes back to the father/son relationship and examines what really happened the day Ramón’s mother died as Andrea goes for her story and Kika recovers from the rape.

Kika is ahead of its time in many ways due to its commentary on shock media, voyeurism and what constitutes entertainment. Reality TV had yet to make an impact in 1993. Andrea Caracortada’s sleazy reporting skills are similar to Gale Weathers in the Scream movies (which began in 1996), and her outfits are a visual delight. They had to have some sort of impact on Lady Gaga. The outfits were designed by Jean-Paul Gaultier and Gianni Versace.

Kika is not one of the more famous films of the director. It’s the last of his shock for shock’s sake films, as he matured a lot before his next film. His films will continue to have elements to shock and surprise, but the story will become more important than the shock. His theme of strong women overcoming obstacles will also become more important. After being panned by critics, Almodóvar took time to evaluate his direction and where he wanted to go as a director.

We’re almost to the amazing stuff.

Rating: B-

Almodóvar Checklist:

Chicas Almodóvar: Veróncia Forqué, Victoria Abril, Rossy de Palma
Antonio Banderas: No.
Poisoned Gazpacho: No
Madrid: Sí
Galicia: No
Drugs: Alcohol.
Musical Sequence: Sí.
Men Too Gay To Function: No, but Rossy de Palma does play a lesbian.
Transvestites: Sí, Bibe Anderson.
Furniture Ikea Could Never Market: Sí. This is Ikea’s worst nightmare.
Surreal rape scene: The grand mother of surreal rape scenes.
Meta Slow Camera Pan To Show How Much He Really Loves Cinema: Sí
Mirror Scene: Sí, a few.
Dress from Lady Gaga’s rejected pile: Everything Victoria Abril wears in this film would look natural on Lady Gaga.
Aspect of Spanish Culture Turned On Its Head: Telebasura and media obsession.
Nuns: NoCatholic Church As Bad Guy: No, but there is the bad guy who celebrated in a self-flagellete Semana Santa procession.
Taxi: Sí.
His mother: Sí. Awesome performance.
Reference to earlier film: A poster with the word “mujeres”
Odd Advertisement: No, unless the entire film counts as an advertisement for Versace.